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Concrete Mixer

Excavator

Vibrating Plane Compactor

Screeding Rails

Shovels

String Line

Rake

Spirit Level

Trowels

Wheelbarrow

Block Splitter or Diamond Disc Cutter

Brush

Rubber Mallet

Straight Edge

Concrete Block Paving

Sharp Sand

MOT Type 1 Roadstone

Cement

Kiln Dried Sand

Ballast

Whether you are constructing your driveway yourself or paying a contractor to do the work for you, you will need to draw up a design that suits your house and your own requirements. Are you just replacing your existing driveway or are you extending it to make it a double drive? Are you planning to completely landscape the front of your house to make it as low maintenance as possible?

 

Once these decisions have been made, you will then need to decide on the type of block you wish to use and the colour. Colour is important because you do not want it to clash with the house bricks, nor do you want it to look like a ‘near miss’.

Depending on the size of the job, you may want to use a mini excavator, or hire a JCB to excavate the existing driveway, as this will save you time and a lot of backbreaking work.

 

Firstly, you need to mark out, from the design, the area in which needs to be excavated.

 

Once you have done this, the area needs to be dug out to the desired level, which depends on your existing surfaces while making sure that your proposed finished level is 150mm below the damp proof course in the brick of any adjoining buildings.

 

If the excavated area appears to be flat, it will be necessary to create a slight slope to aid the dispersion of standing water. This should be constructed with 1 to 40 fall across the width of the drive, and a 1 to 80 fall along the length.

Using the concrete mixer, mix 1 part cement and 6 parts ballast to create the concrete foundation, which should be 100mm thick in depth. The kerb unit or edge restraint will sit on top of this at the required level. This should be done using a string line and spirit level.

 

Mortar the kerb units or edge restraints to the foundation by using a trowel and rubber mallet.

Once the kerbs are in position, haunch the back of the units so that the concrete reaches half way up the rear of the kerb.

Lay the MOT Type 1 Roadstone inside of the edge restraints and rake to the desired level. This should be done in layers of 50mm, and once levelled it should then be compacted using the vibrating plate.

 

The roadstone should be at least 100mm thick after compaction. The vibrating plate should be passed over the area at least 7 times to make sure it is thoroughly compacted.

Once this has been done, a layer of slightly damp Sharp Sand, to the depth of 50mm, needs to be applied and compacted with the vibrating plate.

 

A second layer of Sharp Sand to a level of 20mm then needs to be applied on top of this. Using the string lines, screeding rails and straight edge, this second layer of Sharp Sand needs to be levelled to the correct falls.

You should always begin laying block paving from the bottom of a slope and preferably starting from a right angle or a straight edge. Place the blocks on top of the laying course making sure that the blocks are around 4 to 5mm above the desired finished level.

 

Continue with your desired pattern while making sure that you are using blocks from between 3 to 5 packs at once as this will minimise any colour banding that could appear on the driveway.

 

Once all of the full blocks are laid, you will need to cut an amount of blocks to fill the smaller gaps. This can be done by using either the block splitter or the diamond disc saw. You should avoid making a cut block less than a third of its original size.

Once all of the blocks have been laid, sweep the drive thoroughly to make sure that there is no debris left on the blocks. Then apply Kiln Dried Sand and sweep across the whole of the drive, making sure that this sand falls down between the joints of the blocks.

 

After doing this, the drive needs compacting with the vibrating plate. You will then need to sweep more Kiln Dried Sand over the drive and compact again. Keep doing this until all of the joints are full of sand.

 

Your driveway is now ready to be used.